Saturday, February 5, 2011

Homemade Hazelnut Spread - World Nutella Day

The last recipe in this week's chocolate extravaganza comes on World Nutella Day. Nutella is the brand name of a sweet hazelnut-based spread made by the same folks who distribute the Ferrero Roche chocolates that are so popular during the holiday season. Their spread is based on gianduja, a sweet chocolate and hazelnut confection that was developed centuries ago in Turin, Italy. Gianduja is used in candy making and to flavor milk and other beverages. Many people use it as they would peanut butter and spread it on bread or toast for snacks. I don't think many would debate how delicious the spread is. There are many who would debate how healthy it is for you. Good or bad, it's here to stay and the lucky folks at Ferrero are probably delighted that their brand name is now generically used to identify most hazelnut spreads available to consumers. That's brand recognition at its best. Gianduja, which contains just four ingredients, is simple to make now that we have food processors and blenders at our disposal. Anyone who has easy access to hazelnuts or filberts can make this in a matter of minutes. I am fortunate to live in the state of Oregon where one of the major export crops is hazelnuts. That means I have a ready and relatively inexpensive source of nuts with which to make the spread. So, sometimes I do. I thought you'd enjoy seeing how it's made. Here's the recipe for the homemade version of Nutella.

Directions:Place hazelnuts in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process until nuts start to clump together in a ball. This will take some time (about five minutes), so be patient. Add powdered sugar and cocoa powder and process again for 2 to 3 minutes, until mixture turns dark and ingredients are well combined. Now, slowly drizzle in enough oil to make a spread. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 to 6 weeks. Yield: 2 cups.

Good to know for sure. Your version has high hazelnut content and no mystery ingredients! Other day I was in a supermarket, picked up a bottle of choc spread, look at the contents and put it back where it belonged. Hazelnut content was few percentage!

Just after reading your post I saw David Lebovitz's post on nutella. It mentions 'Mary', maybe not you but I had a really good laugh:) http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2011/02/homemade-nutella-recipe-chocolate-hazelnut-spread/

I had to share this post with my husband. He LOVES nutella, would prefer nuspli, different brand, but cannot find it here. I showed him this recipe and told him he can now make his very own! Thank you. Blessings ~ Tanna

Chocolate hazelnut spread is a dangerous thing to have in my house- I'll eat it all up!!!

LOL!

I started making this last year- I also add a tiny bit of vanilla to my homemade spread. We don't have an excellent supply of hazelnuts (my favorite nut) but we have successfully ordered them from http://www.gnomehazelnutfactory.com/(and I have absolutely no affiliation with them)

Hi, Mary! What a delicious jar of goodness! So beautiful and decadent! I had to bribe my children to try Nutella this summer...and they were't impressed...can you believe that? I think I could tempt them with your fabulous homemade version, though. Thanks for sharing!

The Great Dane wants to celebrate World Nutella Day with a piece of toast with cheese and nutella. He is a fan from waaaaay back and taught the children about the pleasure of this spread many years ago.Do you know that in Denmark it's quite common to find wafer-thin sheets of chocolate on the breakfast table. I've never been able to adapt to the idea of chocolate on toast, but I can see that it makes lots of people in my family happy!

One of our friend's sister in India was married to a German,and she introduced us to Nutella in the 90's when nutella in India was an ,"imported product"My daughter had instantly taken to the spread on a toast,I have still not warmed up to that idea and perfer to have mine by the spoon;) Thanks for sharing this decadently yummy recipe,I had no clue it would be this simple.

Hi Mary, I just learned that today is World Nutella Day! Well, I love Nutella and have been enjoying it for years! Anyway, I am so impressed that you make your own. Bravo!! Sounds just too good..it would be gone in my house in no time..especially since we are indoors in this long..cold..bleak winter..Blessings to you, Catherine

I love nutella and enjoyed reading your post. Your homemade version looks amazingly delicious. Thanks for visiting my blog earlier and leaving nice comments. I was honored. I don't know where I have been, but I am so happy to get to know your amazing blog. I am now following.

Now I just need to get my hands on some hazelnuts! I love Nutella (who doesn't these days?) but I've never thought of making my own. I love the idea! Thank you for sharing, sweet friend. May your Sunday be one of peace and love.

Hey Mary, thanks for visiting my blog and being so kind to leave such nice comment. I followed your link and browsed your blog. You have a wonderful web, and lots of followers. I wonder how you get so many follower on your blog?

Just the other day Hubby and I were discussing how turned off we were with the commercial Nutella due to the high sugar content.He asked me why I didn't make my own. It was a very good question...and now, I have your recipe to inspire me to surprise him. Thanks Mary ;)

HA! I just found your blog (followed the link from FB) and when I saw your header picture, I fell in love. My husband often makes fun of me (in a loving way) that I am the Queen of the perfect bite which is why it takes me so long to eat! I'm gonna have to try this homemade nutella because it does go quickly in our house and must be cheaper than buying it premade! Thanks and looking forward to reading more of your blog!

OMG, thank you for the recipe! I'm a newly converted nutella addict. Got my first jar last week and have been fighting the urge to eat it by the spoonful. I have found that's it's really tasty on graham crackers, and a friend suggested using nutella instead of chocolate to make s'mores.

Thanks for the recipe and speaking of filberts, you ever try roasting fresh ones over the firepit til they get all smoky flavored and hot. LUSCIOUS!!!! Sadly, we're on the "other side of the mountain" so we have to make these crazy dashes to your side to stock up.

I just made this recipe and here's what I've found.1. After you toast the hazelnuts, you need to remove as much of the skins as you can by rubbing the nuts vigorously in a clean kitchen towel.2. You can't process the spread enough in the food processor to get the creamy, non-gritty texture that comes in the jarred version. If that bothers you, you can push the spread through a fine-mesh sieve which will help a lot but it won't be perfect. Its fine by me, but I'm not sure what my kids will think.3. This is more time and work than it appears, but my be worth it to you if you love the end result.4. The hazelnut flavor of this spread is much stronger than Nutella. This spread is not very sweet and has more of a stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth quality. I also found that the chocolate flavor wasn't very prominent (and I used very high quality cocoa.)5. This homemade version is well suited to adult tastes that aren't just looking for a sweet hit. It's more complex. That being said, it will never be mistaken for store-bought Nutella.6. I found that for a flavor and consistency more akin to Nutella, I had to add considerably more powdered sugar, and about 1 1/2 tsp. of vanilla, along with about a 1/4 tsp of salt (which brings out the chocolate flavor more.) I also added a bit more oil for a creamier consistency.

I haven't tried this on my kids yet who are die-hard Nutella fans (and I rarely buy it for them), so we'll see what they say.

Bottom line, I think this is a good Nutella alternative or replacement but not a copycat version.

I have to be honest. This recipe was dreadful. I usually love home made alternatives but this tastes NOTHING like Nutella. This was a waste of expensive hazelnuts and expensive high-quality cocoa. Unfortunately, it's probably the worst recipe I've ever tried. This doesn't taste, look, or feel like Nutella.

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